The number of calories you burn doing daily activities is often influenced by your body size. It takes a certain amount of energy to complete any task, but the larger you are, the more energy you tend to expend, causing you to burn more calories. Even something as sedentary as watching TV is affected by your body size.
Seated Activities
With the exception of sleeping or napping, watching TV is probably one of the most inactive pastimes people take part in regularly. For someone weighing 125 lbs., calories burned averages out to about 0.76 calories per minute, notes the Harvard School of Medicine. Watching TV for an hour burns a total of 46 calories. If you weight 155 lbs., you burn almost 1 calorie per minute for a total of 56 calories every hour.
Reading, on the other hand, expends more energy, and thereby burns more calories. At 125 lbs., you burn one calorie per minute, whereas someone weighing 155 lbs. burns close to 1-1/2 calories per minute. Working on the computer burns even more calories, coming in at 1.3 and 1.7 calories per minute, respectively.
Standing Activities
Activities that require you to stand usually burn more calories than those done seated. Cooking, for example, burns about 2-1/2 calories per minute at a weight of 125 lbs. If you weigh 155 lbs., you're looking at a rate of more than three calories burned per minute.
Light to Moderate
As you start moving around, the rate of calories burned increases. Even if the activity is almost leisurely in nature, you're still burning more calories than when seated or standing. Getting outside to do some light to moderate yard work, such as planting seeds, raking the lawn or even sacking grass clippings, burns about four calories per minute at a weight of 125 lbs. and almost 5 calories per minute at a weight of 155 lbs. Cleaning the house, working in the garden, mowing the lawn or pushing a snow blower typically causes you to burn about 4-1/2 calories per minute at a weight of 125 lbs. and 5.5 calories per minute at a weight of 155 lbs.
Moderate to Vigorous
Much like body size, the intensity of the activity also kicks up the number of calories burned. Playing with the kids, cleaning gutters, painting the house or even digging a hole burns five calories per minute at a weight of 125 lbs. or over six calories per minute at a weight of 155 lbs. Shoveling snow, moving furniture or doing a little carpentry around the home burns six calories per minute and almost 7-1/2 calories per minute at 125 lbs. and 155 lbs., respectively.
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